Hey guys, I am so excited to be back talking with you guys on here (It's been awhile)!!! The past week my class and I have delved into wetlands and recently partnered with Save the Bay to help collect data. Continue reading to learn all about wetlands and what my class and I did to help save the bay!
Wetlands are areas of land where water covers soil all year or for different time periods during the year. Some wetlands that you could have seen include swamps, marshes, mangroves, and lagoons. I learned that wetlands are so important and beneficial to humans for so many reasons! They protect shores from wave action, reduce the impacts of flooding, absorb pollutants, and improve water quality. Wetland provide important habitat for so many animals and plants, the biodiversity in wetlands is immense! However, there is a downhill decline of wetlands, mostly due to urbanization and industrialization. Unfortunately, less than half of the nation's original wetlands remain, which is a bummer because of all the amazing benefits they give. Urban development accounts for most of the wetland decline as society grows and develops. Another negative about wetlands is that there are invasive species that harm the native species in those wetlands. With my partner, we learned about the norway rat, which is an invasive species home to Bay Area wetlands. The rat originated in China and spread to America from ships around 1775. I included my google document that I did about the norway rat as well. In class, we watched a documentary called Saving the Bay and I learned so much more about the wetlands in my home and their history. I learned about the history of the San Francisco Bay, how it's been developed over the years, balancing the need of urban development and conservation of the Bay, and so much more! I attached a picture of my sketch notes that I took while watching the documentary!
I had so much fun on our field trip with the Save the Bay program in Palo Alto! Our class divided into groups and we collected data on different topics at different levels of the wetland. We looked at topics including biodiversity, soil moisture, and pH levels. Citizen science is so important to the Save the Bay program because they take our data and use it to look at the wetlands as a whole and it helps in the restoration and preservation of the wetlands for years to come! Collecting data on biodiversity went well with my group because we got to learn about the native and invasive plants. I attached the data analysis my group and I did during Silas' talk to our class.
Click the links below to learn more!
www.savesfbay.org www.epa.gov/wetlands/what-wetland www.environment.gov.au/water/wetlands/about www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/info/wetlands/wetloss.html savingthebay.org
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Happy 2018! I didn't do anything overly exciting this winter break. I mostly stayed home, worked, and hung out with my boyfriend before he goes back to college in Washington. This year I decided to make my goal something super simple. My goal is to just be happy. Last year I had a lot of rough patches so I am making it my goal to be happy and stay happy this year. My goal for the environment this year is to reduce my carbon footprint as much as I can! Taking this course last semester taught me so many important things concerning the environment that I plan to put what I have learned into action and try to make a difference! I have so many exciting events happening this year that I can't wait to experience!! For my 18th birthday I am going to Coachella for the third time and then 2 weeks after that is prom! Then a couple weeks after that I finally graduate!!
Water pollution is a very serious issue that has been relevant for many years. Here are some ways in which YOU can get involved on the issue of water pollution!
Here are some links to check out so you can take action!
Water carries nutrients for soil to grow food and allow rainwater. Water pollution destroys our ecosystem and dwindling our fresh water supply. Polluted water is more deadly than malaria, AIDS, and wars at the moment.
Water is a basic human right because it is a necessity in order to survive. Humans need water in our bodies because water provides hydration. We need hydration in order to live. The privatization of water is due to the big corporate profiting on small developing countries. This is bad because the big companies take water away from the country and from the people.
The film surprised me because it educated me on water issues that I did not know of before and how real the situation of water pollution is for many countries specifically third world countries. Learning how corporates force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit was shocking because it makes me sad how a corporation’s greed becomes more significant than the developing countries’ need for basic survival.
From this film I learned that in every part of the world, society is polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting water at increasing levels since population and technology continue to grow.
The main goals of the film are to bring light to the issues people in every part of the globe experience with water. The film specifically showcased the fight for water as it becomes a commodity especially to those in developing countries where big corporates, military force, and corrupt governments force developing countries to privatize their water.
The film surprised me because it educated me on water issues that I did not know of before and how real the situation of water pollution is for many countries specifically third world countries. Learning how corporates force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit was shocking because it makes me sad how a corporation’s greed becomes more significant than the developing countries’ need for basic survival.
Watch the Trailer below!
Check out the website for more information!
www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/actionplan/index.html Body SystemsNervous System: One body system I explored was the nervous system. I explored the nervous system through looking at nerves and the brain. Our brain has so much power! By observing the brain, I recognized what each lobe has the responsibility of! The brainstem is very important to our nervous system. Respiratory System: Another body system I explored was the respiratory system. I explored this system by observing lungs, healthy and unhealthy. The unhealthy lungs represented those of a smoker’s. It demonstrated the devastating effects smoking has on your respiratory system. I also discovered how asthma impacts your respiratory system. Excretory System: One last body system I explored was the excretory system by observing male and female kidneys. While observing the kidneys, I learned more about kidney stones. ReflectionI enjoyed our field trip to Body Worlds as we each got to experience a more tech side of science through the exhibits use of advanced technology to showcase each exhibit. If I could change anything about the field trip it would be to make it more appropriate for high school aged students. With that said, I think Body Worlds is more appealing to elementary-middle school students. I felt the only exhibit targeted towards my age was the one where you could view the “dead” bodies. I would recommend the exhibit to families with younger children because it would be a great experience for them! They can play around with the techno games on the first level or do the fun experiments on the second level. Connection to Environmental ScienceThis field trip connects to environmental science because pollution majorly impacts human bodies. Because of an increase in pollution, our respiratory and cardiovascular systems become disrupted. Air pollutants negatively affect our respiratory system as the quality of air we breathe affects our quality of life essentially. Inhaling harmful pollutants mainly affects our lungs. If air pollutants are inhaled, then it gets absorbed by blood and transported to our heart. We must protect our environment as this is our only Earth. Click the button below to check out their website to learn more, and explore the other locations!
The goal of Project Green Challenge is to engage high school and college students through a 30 day environmentally-themed challenge. Click the button above to see my favorite challenge! My favorite challenge was Day 23 because it asked me to take a close look at foods that I eat on a daily basis to see the ingredients. I learned that my favorite trail mix from Trader Joe's non-gmo! Doing the Project Green Challenge was stimulating as an environmental science student because I got to learn in depth and in creative ways about the environment! I enjoyed doing the challenge because I was able to discover new things that I didn't know before which I can now apply to my life, such as eating non-GMO foods and watching my carbon footprint. Click the button below to explore their website and find out how you can get involved next time!
The NOAA Marine Debris Program is the U.S. Federal government's lead for addressing marine debris. Marine debris is a global problem. The ultimate mission of the program is to investigate and prevent the significant impacts of marine debris. The program has 5 main pillars: Prevention, Removal, Research, Regional Coordination, and Emergency Response. While at Ocean Beach, my class and I helped in a beach clean-up in which all the trash we found at the beach would be used for research. Our role was to help MDP in collecting data of the type of garbage that was found in ocean. Each group walked the entire perimeter of their section to pick up trash and tally it if it qualified. A piece of trash was qualified to be tallied if it met the size requirement that was located on our sheet of paper. The information that will be found from our data of garbage will be used to help MDP see if garbage from Japan is still floating to our coast and to overall track marine debris on the West Coast. I had a lot of fun doing this beach clean up because it was exciting to learn how much of an impact marine debris has on the environment. Despite the cold weather, I enjoyed helping MDP with their research on marine debris. Click the button below to check out their website to learn more!
Laudato Si is different from other environmental dialogue because it is a Church document created by someone so powerful in religion, Pope Francis. The encyclical is so powerful because it demonstrates an overview of an environmental crisis from a religious point of view. The way Pope Francis was able to connect religion to an environmental crisis with Laudato Si is very instrumental in him being able bring awareness to Climate Change. With the encyclical Pope Francis is hoping to inspire the world to take action and be aware of what we are doing and what we can do to our common home. Pope Francis' message is inspires me to take action by being a better overall human to our planet. We only have one Home (Earth), so we need to appreciate and respect all aspects of our environment.
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